There's Something About You
by iamofthesky
Summary: Response to a TWoP Ficathon challege: "A minute in the sunlight canTake away a whole life, stillThere's something about you."


Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; am merely borrowing them from Amy Sherman-Palladino. She'll get them back, albeit a little dented.

I also do not own the above-mentioned lyrics to "Clear Spot". Those belong to the Pernice Brothers.

Thanks to LulaBo for being the Best. Beta. Ever.

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THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT YOU

Luke's world was never much filled with sunshine. Every day, he woke up before dawn, spent the whole day in his diner serving annoying and ungrateful customers, closed up and went to bed. That is what each day consisted of. No surprises. It was very routine. Luke liked routine.

His days _did _have their upsides. Lorelai's presence in his diner was a ray of sunshine in his otherwise dreary life. Their routine consisted of "Coffee, please." "No!" "C'mon, Luke!" "No!"This was predictable in itself, but no one—least of all, Luke—knew what would pop out of Lorelai's mouth next. Luke was very much a by-the-numbers guy, but he also appreciated Lorelai's spontaneity.

This was prior to The Kiss. While seeing Lorelai "My Friend" Gilmore on a daily basis provided small amounts of sunshine, being with Lorelai "My Girlfriend" Gilmore was a completely different matter: dating her filled every moment of every day with sunshineLuke was a changed man; all of Stars Hollow noticed. Luke smiled more; he was less gruff; Kirk ceased to be annoying to him; he happily and willingly put up posters announcing town functions on his diner windows, which pleased Taylor immensely.

Yes, all was well. Luke was happy. Lorelai was happy. Stars Hollow was happy. Luke was confident that this was _it_, that he and Lorelai were in this together for the long haul.

But here was Luke, three months after The Kiss; six days after he had told Lorelai he loved her; five days after Lorelai had panicked and said they needed "a break". This was not good. Luke would have to agree with Ross: a "break" did indeed sound like a "break-_up_" to him. (Damn Lorelai for saying it was his "duty" as her "boyfriend" to sit and watch _Friends _with her; he was now caught up in her world of meaningless pop culture references.)

So, Luke had reverted back to his old ways. While Lorelai's presence in his life and in his bed often delayed him in opening up the diner, he was back to waking up at 4:45 am. While with Lorelai, Luke was nice and actually approachable; his irritable attitude had now returned, and multiplied tenfold, scaring off customers even. He was back to the routine. Good ol' reliable, trusting routine.

One part of the routine did change, though: he hadn't seen Lorelai in four days. She hadn't entered his diner in four days. She hadn't had a sip of his coffee in four. Damn. Days. There was no more sunshine in his diner; he was walking around with a raincloud hovering above his head.

"Sunshine's overrated," muttered Luke to himself as he wiped down the counter for the billionth time that day. "Gives you skin cancer." He didn't need Lorelai, he told himself daily. She was too much of a distraction. He did not need distractions. He did not need unpredictability. Sure, things were going well for Luke while with Lorelai, but he shouldn't have gone in it with such confidence. Look how it ended up. He now knew why he lived the life of a loner for so long: he didn't trust anyone, anything. You get involved with people. You're then emotionally invested. You start to care for them. Heck, you start to love them. And then it all goes to hell. _Not worth it_, he thought. _But Lorelai_ is_ worth it_, a little voice shouted in his head.

Luke stopped wiping the now-clear spot on the counter and looked up. Aw jeez: another epiphany. Luke could see her face yet again. God help him: he was angry at her for having such power over him, and angry at himself for being overpowered by her. But there was just something about her that made him want to run back to her. Screw routine! Screw caution! It was time for Luke to be the impulsive one.

"Caesar! I'm heading out!" he shouted and ran out the door.

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Lorelai sat on the living room couch, watching _When Harry Met Sally_. Normally, she loved a good rom-com and a chance to make fun of Meg Ryan's hair, but she was too depressed to partake in the fun. She missed Luke. A lot. It was a big mistake to say she wanted a break. A break! He said he loved her, she panicked, and they had just finished watching season 3 of _Friends _on DVD, so "a break" seemed wise at the moment. She regretted it the second he stormed out of the house, but it wasn't easy for her to apologize. She wanted to, though. It had been a hellish four days.

As she contemplated whether or not to give Luke a call, the front door burst open and in stormed Luke. She didn't even have time to react to his entrance when he started talking. "I can't take this anymoreLorelai! We were great together! You know it, I know it, all of Stars-freakin'-Hollow knows it! I love you! Here I am: you want me, fine. If not, have the courtesy to let me know. I'm outta here!"

As Luke stormed out, Lorelai jumped off the couch. "Luke?!" she called after him.

His head popped back in. "What do you want?" he asked angrily.

"I love you, too," she said softly.

"Oh, yeah?! Well--". He paused. What_ did she say_? he asked himself. "Oh!" He softened. "Well, all right then. That's...good. G-great, even. I gotta head back to the, uh, diner. I'll stop by...later then." He cursed himself mentally for fumbling with his words; he was supposed to be cool and collected, dammit!

Lorelai giggled; she loved it when he was flustered. "Looking forward to it." He smiled at her and she smiled back. He walked out the door and she happily plopped herself back onto the couch.

Luke stepped out onto the porch and gently shut the door behind him. He stood there for a moment, taking in what had just happened. He let out a huge breath, relieved at the result: she had said she loved him. Definitely not what he was expecting when he decided to come over, but a good outcome nonetheless. Smiling, Luke looked up at the sky, noticing how blue and cloudless it was. It was rather beautiful.

The sun shone brightly into his eyes, forcing him to look away. Luke hopped down the steps and headed back towards the diner. He liked the sunshine; he always had.

What was that about skin cancer?


End file.
